Is Kim Jong Un Dead?!

Is Kim Jong-un dead? China's ambassador threatens the Philippines. And you see all these colorful skyscrapers? Yeah, they're empty. That and more on this week's China news headlines. Welcome to China Uncensored, I'm Chris Chappell. Kim Jong-un is dead? At least that's the latest rumor on the interwebs this week. I mean, if rumors of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have been circulating online for days, but Kim Jong-un has not just made a public appearance to deny them, then surely this indirectly confirms that the rumors of Kim Jong-un's death are likely true. That's kind of like me saying that since I haven't seen the McRib for a while, it's surely gone and never ever is coming back. In which case, I'd die of a broken heart. So what happens now? Will China be unable to stop North Korea from launching a nuke? Will South Korea try to take over while the CCP screams for restraint? Will Dennis Rodman have to find a new best friend? Well, here's the thing. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Kim Jong-un is probably not dead. Just like all the times Xi Jinping was not dead, despite those rumors. In fact, Kim Jong-un is probably living his best life. Man, every pic of Kim Jong-un looks like a Pixar character dropped in a Lars von Trier movie. I mean, why would Kim Jong-un feel compelled to make a public appearance just to put to rest rumors on X, which by the way is banned in North Korea, so he probably doesn't even look at it. That's the one and only benefit to living in North Korea. Sure, you live in poverty, terrified of political persecution, and have no way to escape. But at least you're not wasting your life doom scrolling on social media. Anyway, as of this recording, there's no way to know for sure whether Kim is dead or alive. He's Schrodinger's dictator. North Korean media have released photos of him, but these could be from any time. But here's what tells me he's probably not dead. South Korea's government has said nothing. The US government has said nothing. And the best indicator of all? Polymarket trading still predicts with more than 90% certainty that Kim Jong-Un will still be in power by the end of the year. You know, you're in the darkest timeline when degenerate gamblers are the voice of reason. Oh, and no successor has stepped up. Not his sister. Not his daughter. Or some military general with a funny hat. When Kim Jong-un's dad died 15 years ago, it was announced officially two days later. And it's been four days in an era where it's harder than ever to cover things up. So take those rumors with a grain of salt. And maybe get off X for a few days. And imagine you're living in a mentally relaxing dictatorship. China has a new ambassador to the Philippines. His name is Jing Chuan. And last week, he gave a masterclass in Chinese diplomacy. It started when the Philippine Defense Secretary called China a regional troublemaker. Which, given China's behavior in the South China Sea, is like calling the ocean wet. Ambassador Jing was not happy at having China's behavior described that way. You know, accurately. So at a forum near Manila last Thursday, he told reporters the troublemaker label was nonsense, and that he explained why China is not a troublemaker. If we want to use force, we may easily win. But no, we will not use force. China, we love peace. Yes, China will not use force. China loves peace. Roll that clip again. Instead of saying they're not troublemakers, they should have just gone full wine ant and said, well-behaved countries rarely make history. To be fair, I do agree with the first part of what the Chinese ambassador said. If we want to use force, we may easily win. China spends more than 50 times what the Philippines does on its military. That's exactly what makes the whole thing sound like it's actually intended to be a subtle threat. That and all the constant violence I've already covered. No need to roll the clip again. You get it. So on Monday, the Philippine government said it had summoned the Chinese ambassador. It's the second time this ambassador has been called in in less than a year on the job. Which is impressive. Most diplomats need a whole career to be that undiplomatic. Then China's foreign ministry responded to the summons by blaming certain Philippine individuals for maliciously lashing out at China and told the Philippines to rein in its politicians." So China's ambassador says China could destroy the Philippines in a war, and the problem is that the Philippines won't calm down? If you've ever been in an abusive relationship with a sociopath, you know exactly what's going on. While Chinese diplomacy leaves a lot to be desired, Chinese electric vehicles are amazing! They frequently feature more than 10 cameras, high-precision GPS, microphones, and of course an internet connection to send all that data...somewhere...where? Shut up and enjoy the heated seats! Mmm, that's toasty! This is why it boggles my mind that nearly 200 Chinese-connected cars can freely enter South Korean military sites. This is basically like inviting one of those Chinese spy balloons everyone was freaking out about a few years ago, but with on-the-ground access. Do they think this isn't a threat because it has cupholders? This is basic security, people. Even the UK, which is famously stupid when it comes to China, has banned Chinese EVs from some military bases because they know Chinese cars spy on them. And yet, according to a South Korean lawmaker, at least 190 of these Chinese connected cars, BYDs, are registered to enter South Korean military facilities. Not just any facilities, either. The Ministry of National Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Naval Command in Busan where US aircraft carriers dock, the Jinhae Submarine Command and air bases flying F-35s, and South Korea's brand new KF-21 fighter. Basically, if it has military secrets, a BYD can park there. At this point, they may as well just hand the cars classified documents with receipts from the parking garage. The South Korean Defense Ministry actually admitted back in April that video collection at military sites is a security vulnerability. But by September, the only action they'd taken was to state they had plans to prepare security measures. They announced plans. This is the teaser trailer for a teaser trailer of military intelligence. Part of the problem may be bureaucracy. When that lawmaker I mentioned asked which ministry is in charge of the problem, he said three different agencies pointed at each other. This is not the hero Korea needs to fight the CCP. So it would seem the security in Seoul isn't great, but what about the security situation in the US? Well, it would seem the US government is finally watching China Uncensored. Or at least, I assume so, because on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice banning the use of DeepSeek AI tools by government agencies. It's almost like someone dropped a common sense bomb and it became airborne. Ever since DeepSeek came out nearly two years ago, I've been saying that Chinese AI is dangerous. After all, under China's national intelligence law, Chinese companies have to cooperate with Chinese intelligence when asked. So everything you type or upload to a Chinese chatbot basically gets CC'd to the Ministry of State Security. And now, finally, some progress. Civilian federal agencies have to pull DeepSeek out of their systems. Of course, the ban doesn't cover military or intelligence services, and it doesn't say anything about federal contracts. Plus, it took us a while to get here. The order was signed in July and only published this week. So it's not that nothing ever happens in government. It's that nothing happens quickly. Or thoroughly. It probably won't surprise you that China was quick to criticize the US ban on deep-seeking government systems. Despite, you know, China blocking most uses of American AI, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok. Not over concerns that the US government will access Chinese user data, but that Chinese users will learn too much. Only Chinese AI can provide correct answers to life's important questions, like what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989? The answer, of course, being nothing at all. Oh look, there's a policeman at your door. And now let's talk about Shanghai. No reason I brought that up right after mentioning Chinese police. Shanghai is a symbol of China's economic miracle. A glowing gem against the night sky. There's just one problem. According to Nikkei Asia, a lot of these glowing buildings don't have anyone in them. Because Shanghai now tops the world in empty offices, as overseas investment pulls away. So maybe that glow is from ghosts. China certainly has made enough of those. Nikkei reports that in several towers, only the exterior-facing rooms have their lights turned on, in an apparent effort to maintain Shanghai's iconic nightscape. According to real estate firm CBRE, Shanghai's office vacancy rate hit 24.5% in the second quarter. That's the highest of 20 major cities in the world. Two of the other cities are also Chinese cities. Three if you include San Francisco. Shanghai's vacancy rate is up more than 5 percentage points since just before Covid. That's a bigger jump than most other major cities. So why is everyone leaving Shanghai? Well, most of it is because foreign companies are pulling out. China's own foreign exchange regulator says net foreign direct investment in the second quarter was down 23% from the first quarter this year. American, European, and now Japanese companies are getting out of dodge. And at a rapid pace. I guess when the CCP raids their offices, detains their employees, and puts exit bans on their executives, they get a little less excited about signing a 10 year lease. I guess it's never too late to teach an old dog common freaking sense. And speaking about China treats foreigners, if you've been planning a trip to China, the US State Department has some travel tips. Specifically, try not to get detained. Which is great advice. That's on my vision board every day, no matter where I am. On Monday, the US State Department updated its travel advisory to warn travelers to China that they risk wrongful detention. As in, the State Department has officially determined that wrongfully detained Americans may be held in prison for years in poor conditions and without due process. Now, to be fair, a lot of countries have a level 2 travel advisory. In most cases, it's because of the risk of crime, terrorism, or kidnapping. China is different because the crime, terrorism, or kidnapping are being carried out by the Communist government. The State Department's advice for staying out of trouble? Keep a low profile, and avoid communicating opinions or observations that might be considered embarrassing or otherwise negative about China or the Chinese authorities. Like wearing this t-shirt available in our merch store, link is below. But hey, you know what country has the safest level of travel advisory? Taiwan! Yes, I just called Taiwan a country. It has genuine Chinese culture. The street food won't poison you, and the police won't arrest you for meditating. But you know who should travel to mainland China? All those Western influencers who want to make a name for themselves on YouTube. Because YouTube loves to promote travel to China, surely for good reasons, and not simply because they make billions of dollars from Chinese ads. That might explain why, when I did a YouTube search for China this week, I got results for hundreds of pro-China videos like The Wonders of China, China is the Future, and this travel vlog that just got 4.7 thousand views on a channel with less than 2,000 subscribers. China Uncensored is nowhere to be found in the first several hundred search results, even though we have more than 2 million subscribers. But you found us anyway. You're watching this right now. The algorithm did everything it could to keep us apart and you showed up. That makes you part of something special. Because the people who watch China Uncensored aren't the people who take whatever YouTube's algorithm feeds them. You're the people who go looking for what's actually going on in the world. And if you want to go one step further, there's ChinaUncensored.tv. That's where you get to connect directly with us and with other people who are also in the know about China. And right now, when you join us, I'll say thank you in a very specific way. You remember Tank Man from Tiananmen Square in 1989? One man with shopping bags, standing up to a column of Chinese tanks. Well now, you can have this. For legal reasons, I can't call it LEGO. Tank Man sets. Which is made of genuine LEGO bricks. But Tank Man is not something you can buy. He's how we say thanks for standing with us. Put them on your desk. Put them on your shelf. And when someone asks what that is, you get to tell them. Which is exactly the conversation the CCP has been trying to prevent since 1989. We only made 400 of these, and the offer ends October 31st. So head to ChinaUncensored.tv, become an annual premium or VIP member, and get your Tank Man while he's still around. YouTube's algorithm is like a very large column of tanks. It helps to have a few courageous people standing in front of it. Thank you for your support. Click this button on screen or the link below to learn more. Once again, I'm Chris Chappell. See you next time.